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About Me

Stewart StevensonBanffshire, Scotland

Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - Bell Baxter - and then studied Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a modest degree in 1969. That's also the year Sandra & I married. Her family comes from the North East.

Thirty years later I retired from Bank of Scotland as Director of Technology Innovation and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 as member for Banff & Buchan having first joined the SNP in 1961.

I am a Fellow of The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Member at The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Professional Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and an Associate Member of the Highland Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association.

15 August 2006

Today [Monday] Grampian NHS was shown to be the worst area in Scotland for NHS dental practice provision. In a Parliamentary Answer to Banff & Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson, the Health Minister reveals a net loss of 4 dental practices in the last ten years while across Scotland the gain has been 39.

Speaking from his constituency, Stewart Stevenson said,

“Scottish Executive figures have previously shown that the North East has 3.9 dentists per 10,000 population while Glasgow has nearly twice that at 7.48. Today's figures reveal that far from engaging effectively with the provision of dental services, NHS Grampian has presided over abject failure.

“In only one of the last six years have we seen a net increase in the number of dental practices offering NHS services, the worst performance of any health board.

“It is time for NHS Grampian to make the kind of effective efforts that have, for example, seen a net 18 new practices open in the Highlands over the last 10 years.”

Commenting on particular problems in his own constituency, Stevenson stated,

“New provision planned for Banff is welcome. But that will be little help to places like Fraserburgh where patients may often wait for a year for remedial work to be done. We urgently need new dental practices and dentists if oral standards are to improve.” Categories[Health and Community Care]